Digital reference services
Malmø, November 28.-29, 2002
Conference report from Tord Høivik

On November 28-29, Malmø public library arranged a two day seminar on digital reference services for Nordic libraries.

The seminar was surprisingly well attended. The organizers had expected about 80 participants, whole more than 120 turned up.

The audience was dominated by practitioners - the librarians that actually face the public by organizing specific services and producing a steady output of answers.

I found the seminar very useful as a comprehensive update on trends, technologies and issues.

Göran Schmitz, the head of Malmø public library, was an active and welcoming host. The library is both impressive and friendly. Even in November, the city of Malmø was attractive. Its historical centre manages to be urban and relaxed - like cities in New England. A student town - and a post-modern centre of growth. The bridge to Denmark spurs development. Some participants commuted from Copenhagen - the bus takes 45 mins.

The program included

• brief presentations of the various national services in four Nordic countries
• two substantial reports on virtual reference and on reference management from the United States
• a highly personal (and moving) reflection on student processes and teaching styles in a truly global learning environment
• a brief report from (my) research on the questions people ask on the web
• an analysis of problems and opportunities in global referencde collaboration
• a demonstration of QuestionPoint software (to communicate effectively with virtual reference patrons)
• a report on the emerging reference collaboration between public and academic libraries in Denmark
• five parallell workshops on central issues in reference planning and management

The lecture notes will be made available on the seminar site.